Council for Holocaust Education

What is the Council for Holocaust Education?

The Eva Unterman Holocaust Education Fund

In Memory of Dawid Sierakowiak
This endowment fund of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa honors Eva Unterman, who as a child survived the ghetto and camps, and has gone on to lead our community in meaningful and poignant Holocaust interfaith programs.

The Council for Holocaust Education, a partner body of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, exists to coordinate the education efforts of teachers and students in Holocaust education in the greater Tulsa area.

The Council is a committee of volunteers from across the community with administrative and financial support provided by the Community Relations Committee ( CRC ) of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa (JFT ). The Council focuses on commemoration of the Holocaust and provides education about the Holocaust to the Tulsa community through several venues. Among those are:

Coordinating education efforts and curriculum development with teachers and students in Holocaust education in the greater Tulsa area

Hosting the annual Interfaith Yom Hashoah Commemoration event

Maintaining a speakers bureau

Partnering with other community organizations to support events associated with Holocaust remembrance and education (such as the Kaiser Holocaust Exhibition, Tulsa City County Library (TCCL) and Circle Cinema (Circle)

Identifying WWII veterans and providing focus on their service

Maintaining and continuing to build relationships with interfaith and community groups to promote tolerance and acceptance

What is the Educators’ Committee?

The Educators’ Committee consists of experienced teachers in both secondary and higher education from the Greater Tulsa Area. These educators advise the Council on the pedagogical aspects of our Holocaust programming.

The White Rose organization, including brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, felt compelled to protest the frightening environment in which they lived and studied. Their protests took the form of essays published in leaflets that were distributed anonymously in Munich, and then later mailed to persons selected from the phone book. These essays challenged citizens to resist the Nazi policies and encouraged non-violent political dissent. The White Rose members knew that to be silent in the face of evil was to surrender to it, encourage it, and enable it to grow stronger. Thus, their movement united others to resist Nazi tyranny by striving to eradicate the “face of evil” before it destroyed more innocent lives. According to an exhibit on display at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., “Of all the groups in Germany that opposed Hitler’s dictatorship, only one, code-named ‘White Rose’, openly protested the Nazi genocide against the Jews.”The White Rose was formed by a handful of students, among them brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, who felt compelled to raise their voices in protest of the frightening environment in which they lived and studied.

For Middle, Jr. High, and High School Students

Submission deadline: Friday, March 15, 2019

2018-2019 ESSAY PROMPT:

Consider the following quote: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” ~ Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prizewinner

A. What did nations and groups outside of Nazi Germany do to try to help children in need during the time of the Holocaust? Focus both on suggestions that were made to provide help and on actual policies that were put into action.

While researching, make sure to consider and describe obstacles that made helping harder.

Include actions that came from 2 of the following 3 sources:

A Private Individual

A Group

A Government leader

B. In our country there are individuals, groups, and government leaders whose goal it is to improve the lives of children. Research 2 of these 3 current child advocates and describe how their services would have been valuable to the children who were targeted by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:

Length: 500-1000 words

Eligibility: Students in grades 6-8 at the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year may participate. Students may win an award only once in each school category.

HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:

Length: 750-1500 words

Eligibility: Students in grades 9-12 at the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year may participate. Students may win an award only once in each school category.

ESSAY REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST:

Does the essay completely address this year’s essay contest topic?

Have you given your essay a descriptive title?

Is your essay the required length?

Is your essay typed, double-spaced, with left and right margins set at 1 inch, on one side of white 8.5 by 11 inch paper with Times New Roman font?

Have you made sure that your name, school, or city DOES NOT appear anywhere on the essay manuscript (only on the attached entry form)?

Did you include parenthetical citations of sources used?

Does your essay have a standardized Works Cited page?

Did you completely fill out the entry form provided by your teacher?

WHITE ROSE AWARDS: Ten students from grades 6-8 and also from grades 9-12 will be honored with a symbolic white rose. From these top essays, first, second, and third place cash prizes will be awarded as follows:

Grades 6-8Grades 9-12

First prize $ 250 First prize $ 250

Second prize $ 150 Second prize $ 150

Third prize $ 50 Third prize $ 50

All students selected for outstanding essays will be inducted in to the Friends of the White Rose – Tulsa Region at a special recognition ceremony. Winning essays will be posted on our website: jewishtulsa.org.

JUDGING CRITERIA: Each essay will be judged using the following criteria:

Note: Any essay that does not address the ENTIRE prompt will be disqualified.

SUBMISSIONS: Sponsoring teachers may hand deliver, submit by US mail, or electronically submit their students’ essays. A completed entry form for each student’s submission must also be included. These must arrive no later than March 15, 2019. Essays should be delivered or mailed to

For entry forms or more information, contact dhe@jewishtulsa.org or 918-495-1100.

2019 Yom HaShoah Art Contest

The 2019 Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance ceremony will take place on Monday, May 6th, 2019 at Temple Israel. Teachers should bring their entries to Temple Israel on either Saturday, May 4 or Sunday, May 5 (1 pm to 4 pm both days) to set them up for display. Students will have their pieces exhibited at Temple Israel for the event, and the winners’ pieces plus those chosen at the time of judging will be shown at the Tulsa Jewish Federation. Each year, students from the Tulsa area display art work created in response to their classroom learning at the Remembrance Day event.

Student art work can be submitted into either the middle school (grades 6-8) or high school (grades 9-12) category.

Criteria:

“Artwork” is understood to be visual art in any medium, but is not understood to refer to film, music, dance, or drama (the performing arts).

All artworks should be easily portable and either freestanding, or be able to sit on an easel or a tabletop.

Artworks may be submitted by individual students or by groups of students.

The artist/s name, school and teacher should appear on the artwork in a place that is not visible when displayed (such as the bottom or back of the artwork).

A short (1-3 sentence) artist/s’ statement should accompany each artwork.

Artworks that require batteries or electricity may not be displayed, for logistical reasons.

Artworks that include blood, body parts, or ashes will not be displayed.

Artwork will be judged based on originality, attention to detail and evidence of historical research. Judges will include representatives from the Council for Holocaust Education, The Sherwin Miller Museum, and former teachers.

Prizes:

Ten finalists will be selected in the middle school category and ten in the high school category. From these 20, the following prizes will be awarded in each category:

To download Identity Plate and Artist’s Statement (which are required for each piece,) you can download here.

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